Chrysti The Wordsmith: Tree Hugger

Greetings This is Christie the wordsmith. People who embrace the environmentalist ethic especially those supporting the preservation of forested land in the restriction of logging are sometimes called tree huggers. Environmental activists while they don't literally embrace redwoods to save them from destruction were given their nickname after a tree hugging movement that started high in the mountains of India in 1972 in a northern Indian village. The locals decided to protest commercial logging of the native ass trees that the villagers depended upon for firewood and animal fodder. The people considered several protest strategies including burning the trees scheduled for removal and lying down in front of the logging trucks. They ultimately resolved to clasp the trunks of the trees using their bodies to thwart the loggers axes. The locals were successful in their protest. No ash trees were felled that particular day and the incident ignited several identical protests in nearby villages. Speakers of the Hindi language of India called this strategy chip co andan which means out here

to the trees movement. Translated into English. Chip became a tree hugger movement. The incident became a touchstone for discussions related to environmental issues first in India then around the world and tree hugger entered the folk lexicon as a synonym for a forest conservationist. I'm Christie the wordsmith the Dave herbivores. CHRISTIE The wordsmith the sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.